How to Save More Penny This Year

Do you have any resolutions this year? I believe you do, whether it’s to get moved more, eat healthier, be more productive, save more money, or any other. How is it going after a week on the new year? Doing good?

Personally, I’ve had the “save more money” thing on my list. And today I’ll tell you how to get through this year with less penny spent. We’ve got a plenty things covered, from the big things you can barely do to the small things easier to do than not.

Anyway, this tips is based on my daily student life in Indonesia. I don’t know whether it will work for you living in another country or doing other thing, but I think it’s worth to try!

So, let’s start with the first tips: have two bank accounts, one for your checking account and the other one for your savings. This way, the money you should’ve spent and the one you shouldn’t have spent won’t get mixed. This also keeps your money in the savings account invisible to you too!

The tips before work best if you save your money right after you’ve got your paycheck. As I said before, the money in your saving account will be invisible to you. So, you should immediately transfer the money into your savings account right after you’ve got your paycheck, before you see the money and have a chance to spend it.

Make and stick into a budget. But don’t forget to keep it simple. It’s maybe fun to track down all your spendings and categorize it at first. But it can get overwhelming fast and you quit. You should also tweak your budget every now and then because your conditions now may not be the same with the conditions when you was starting your budget. You should also make your budget realistic, don’t make one you can’t stick into.

When you want to buy things, differentiate between wants and needs. It’s easy to do it. When you can’t continue living without it, then it’s a “need”. Otherwise, it’s a “want”. Then, if you’re going to buy a “want”, don’t do it in impulse. I usually wait until a couple of weeks because sometimes a “want” can decay. If you still want to buy it, you can always buy it. But, don’t forget to stay on budget.

Sometimes, you may encounter a time when you can’t decide which one of two or more things to buy. In such times, consider to buy neither because those indecisions means you strongly want neither of them.

Learn to cook! That way, you can save more money by cooking for yourself rather than eating out. Rather than dining-out for $8, you can just cook for $5 or less. Those takeouts for lunch that cost $7 can also be substituted by a brown-bag lunch you can make for less than $4. That’s $6 total savings per day or more than $2000 per year!

You should ditch your morning expensive coffee. Why spend $3 for a cup of your favourite Espresso on Starbucks if you can make your own for less than $1.5? Or if you want save more and being healthier at the same time, you can completely ditch that coffee and drink water instead. Don’t forget to bring your own water from home too to save more!

Stop smoking if you do. A pack of cigarettes costs $1 in Indonesia, and it may costs $5 somewhere else. If it’s 2-pack-a-day like some of my friends, it’s a $730 savings here (or more than $3500 somewhere else!).

How often did you go to the gym last year? If it’s just once a week or less, maybe you should consider cancel your gym membershipthis year. It may be cheaper if you pay $5 per visit rather than $30 monthly fee if that’s the case. Or you can just buy a running shoes and run daily, it’s much more cheaper than going into the gym!

And most importantly, remember the basics: spend less than you earn! If you want to spend more, try to get a raise in your current job or find another way to earn money.

So that’s all from me. Do you have more tips? Say it in the comments below!